- Our bodies are programmed (circadian rhythm) to sleep when the environment is darker and cooler (night as opposed to day)
- Set a wake-up time for EVERY morning (including weekends and holidays) as opposed to a bedtime to help reschedule your body clock (your bedtime will be naturally selected due to demand for sleep).
- Only go to bed when you are tired
- If you lie awake in bed for extended periods spend less time in bed. This allows you to associate your bed with sleep
- Ensuring our sleeping environment is comfortable is of vital importance
- Limit light exposure in your bedroom at night
- Exercise can help with sleep as it elevates body temperature allowing for an exaggerated drop of temperature. Exercising to close to bed time can be non beneficial as it can stimulate people and can leave the body temperature too high to fall into sleep
- A hot shower before bed can be good for an artificial spike in temperature to allow for that exaggerated temperature drop
- Limit noise and other distractions in the room
- Ear plugs are a good option
- Limit technologies in the room
- Some studies suggest electrical currents interfere with sleep
- If you are a worrier
- Pick a ‘worry half hour’ long before bed where you can write down your concerns. If an action can rectify this worry do it or plan to do it so when you come to worry at bed time remind yourself you’ve taken care of the issue
- Don’t have the time visible in your room – checking the alarm clock is stressful. Does it really matter what the time is anyway???
